Missing teeth and supporting oral tissues have traditionally been replaced with dentures or bridges permitting restoration of chewing function, speech, and aesthetics. Dental implants offer an alternative. They are inserted into the jawbones to support a dental prosthesis and are retained because of the intimacy of bone growth on to their surface. In order to circumvent the problem of post-extraction and implant-related bone resorption, the concept of immediate implants was introduced in the late 1970s. It was suggested that this approach could not only limit physiological bone resorption...